Seven Common Interview Mistakes and How to Recover from It

You just received a call from the company, asking you to attend the job interview. And you might have come to realise that the next step is to ace the interview and get the job. But wait! Are you really ready for the interview?

To make your life easier, here are the seven common interview mistakes we have crowd-sourced from the articles shared by those candidates on the Internet, which you might need to keep an eye out for as well.

You might have come across a lot of employers who tend to end their interview by asking for questions from the candidates. And you might be surprised that there are always some intentions coming along with it. People don’t simply ask for nothing. At this point, hence, you should avoid clamming up and waiting for your employer to be the only one speaking throughout the whole interview session.Being initiative and active in asking questions shows your enthusiasm and expectations towards the job you’re applying, and that’s always a great way to unfold the conversation. Plus, it makes you look more prepared.

The previous working experience might not have hit your expectations, your ex-employer might have been so mean to you and you might have a lot to complain about, but why not just leave it to your BFF time? 

Most of the employers, of course, do accept the comments and feedback from the employees. Prior to that, do keep in mind that these feedback are better conveyed in positive manners. You should be aware that your name might have been crossed out while you are criticising about your previous company, as it makes the one who interviews you worry that you’d say about their company after.Instead of criticising, try to identify the major problems that make you leave your previous company and what you expect to gain by joining the workforce in this company.

Employers are curious of your strengths, and of course, they look forward to see your contribution to the company. But it’s never a good thing if you keep boasting about how perfect you are and how well you can do, especially when you can’t actually get to that level of perfectness in reality. People intentionally do that in order to impress the employer. They do that without knowing that it could backfire them, as the employer might get irritated by it, which later leads to the failure of the interview.Be humble in the sense that you know what your weaknesses are and see it as room for improvement. Employers are more interested at how ready you are to accept and deal with your imperfection.

A recent study has stated that it takes only seven seconds for people to get their first impression of you. In this seven seconds, your appearance tells the employer how he or she should see you and it just happens in the blink of an eye.  It is definitely how the stereotype works, people judge you at first glance. Thus, it is imperative to avoid dressing inappropriately, as it does affect how the people perceive you as a person.Always remember to get yourself polished and well dressed, and above all, dress appropriately when you are to go for a job interview.

Time waits for no one, so does your employer. You don’t want people to think that you have poor time management, so just be there on time. “Better never than late,” George Bernard Shaw once said. And it’s true. Once you’re late for the interview, you would already have made a bad impression.Leave enough time to get there as you might get late for the interview on account of some unexpected incidents. Do apologise and inform your interviewer of why you are late and when you expect to get there in case any interference gets in your way.

How could you even expect an employer to hire you when you yourself simply know nothing about the company? Employer needs to see how ready you are for this job, rather than how little you know about the company.In this case, do a quick research about what the company or organisation is about before you go for the interview. Knowing nothing about the company is seen as unprepared and lacking interest, and eventually you’d have to face the music.

People tend to do it without even themselves knowing. It’s more than just saying “thank you” and “goodbye”. Instead, you have to bear in mind that being polite is crucial during the interview.  Good manner eases off unfavourable tension, and undeniably, it shows people how you care about them.Always remember to address people who are interviewing you properly and correctly. Even if you are totally running out of words, a warm smile will always back you up.